Cracked
by CurlyFriDays
Summary: Summary: Neither human nor monster, Hornet walked to save her sibling. Hornet walked. And walked. And walked. She had walked beyond the Howling Cliffs, and into the unknown beyond. Post Dream No More. Post True Pacifist Route. *Flowey disappeared, he doesnt show up. So slight inaccuracies* *Slight divergence from Canon*
1. Chapter 1

**An: **Just like in Becoming Whole, this will start serious, and delve into laughs and memes. And this story is shorter than my nromal.

~

When Hornet awoke, she saw void receding and infection shriveling. She turned to see Ghost's shell cracked. In half. There was no way in the Abyss would Hornet let the Little Wanderer just _perish_ like that. That and, Hornet had gotten attached to her silent sibling.

So Hornet walked. Journeying somewhere into the unknown, hoping someone could help.

~

Hornet didn't know how long she had walked. All she knew is that she was **DETERMINED**. Determined to get Ghost help.

Out of all the things she expected, she didn't expect to see a city. A castle of all things. A sprawling kingdom. It was obvious that this kingdom, whatever it was, did not experience the infection.

But this kingdom, it was not a bug kingdom. It was something..._other_. A kingdom that had known hope, instead of fear. It was something Hornet wished she could have.

She walked even more, until she ended up at the castle. As she walked up to the entrance, she was met with surprisingly little opposition. She freely walked through the castle.

She had finally found some form of _life_ in this castle. There were seven _things_. Hornet had no idea how to describe them. All she could do was get their attention. And one by one, they all turned. And one by one they all noticed Ghost's cracked shell in her hands. One of them, a white something, stepped forward. Hornet was expecting growls, but kind words came out instead.

"Why do you carry that around? My child, we are free. You can mourn freely."

Hornet was determined to get her point across.

"My sibling. Is unique. They can come back. Please help."

Hornet felt weak asking for help. Being the Protector of Hallownest, being the progeny of the Pale King, asking for help was a show of weakness. But she still asked for help, and that made her stronger than she could have been. Facing her fear.

All of the things shared a knowing look. But Hornet could see they were all willing to help.

Two of them stepped foward. The white something, and a skeleton? As they stepped closer, Hornet could feel a change in the air. _Power_. Just as she had felt in Ghost, these two were powerful.

The skeltons eye started to glow, while the white something's hands started to glow with what looked like fire.

Hornet, for once, didn't engage in a battle, she stepped back. Slowly but surely, Ghost's shell started to meld back together. A body formed. Arms. Legs. Horns. Just like always, Ghost came back with cloak and nail fully formed.

And as always, when surrounded by something Ghost lashed out. Thankfully it was just the nail, spells _hurt_. Hornet had been hit with her fair share.

Thankfully the two had quick reflexed and could dodge out of the way. Ghost kept advancing, so Hornet had to step in.

Throwing her needle so it would arc in a way that it would wrap around Ghost, effectively restraining them. Not to say Ghost still struggled though.

"Ghost."

The wriggling stopped.

"You defeated the infection. But you, your shade, in the process." For one prone to being vague, Hornet was struggling. "Your shell cracked in half. After all of the death, I couldn't bear to have anymore. So I decided to save you-my sibling. If I couldn't save anyone else, I knew you- at least had a possibility of coming back."

No reply. Not that Hornet was expecting one anyways.

"And as for The Hollow Knight, there were no remains of his body."

Nothing.

Through out all of this, the Seven had been watching this with shock.

The fuzzy something spoke. "I have no idea what you have been through, but it seems that we are all now free. My name is Toriel. Let us rest, and decide what we should do."

One by one, the others introduced themselves. The skeleton was Sans. There was also another skeleton- Papyrus. There was another fuzzy something- Asgore. There was a yellow something- Alphys. There was a blue something- Undyne. And there was a something. Introduced as a human. Human Frisk.

Hornet had no idea what a human was, but they couldn't be much worse than the one she had just met.

~

Everyone was sitting at a table. Everyone except Ghost. Who was nail-pogoing off of everyone's heads. Ghost had figured out that since no present took damage from the nail- soul extracting damage that is. Hence the pogoing. And why Hornet was being pogoed off of.

Frisk, the human, watched in amused silence.

You would think that after all Ghost had been through, they would act more adult-like. No. Nail-pogoing.

When Ghost bounced, the monsters, as Hornet as learned, their heads would bow a little bit.

Sans head happened to be the one wacked when Hornet started to speak.

"I am the Protector of Hallownest, Hornet. Before Ghost, there was the Infection. No one knew where it came from. Before civilization collasped, bugs kept getting sick. Until, so many had gotten sick, no one could survive. Almost everyone had been infected. There were a few who weren't. But Ghost is a special type of bug. Ghost is a vessel. No thoughts, no voice, no will. A literal shell. But we are siblings, and it counts to me. Then, the infection grew." The nail-pogoing strikes got harder.

"The infected more dangerous."

Wack. Wack. Wack.

"The final fight. Or so I thought."

Almost everyone had scooted away from the table except Papyrus and Sans. Ghost was now bouncing between them with their full force. Neither of them seemed to be in discomfort.

"And now we are here today."

The only sound was the sound of Ghost's nail.

Sans looked up. His eye glowed. And Ghost floated in the air between Sans amd Papyrus's head.

"Look kid, I get you're traumatized. But you can't take your anger out on us. It is all over. Its done. You won. The Radiance, its not coming back. Plus, that and I'm not sure how much longer anyone could stand the xylophone music you made out of mine and Pap's skulls." Sans said.

At the last line, everyone except for Hornet had laughed. Frisk laughed because she liked the puns and jokes, and Hornet did not laugh because she had no idea what a joke even was. Jokes did not exist in Hallownest.

Ghost, free from Sans hold, just stared on in silence. As did Frisk.

"Now that the introductions and stories have been shared, what would you like to do Frisk?" Toriel asks.

No hesitation. She pointed to Toriel.

"You want to stay? With us?" A nod.

Tension that Hornet hadn't even noticed was in the room, left.

Amd with that, preparations were made. To the surface. And a new world.

**An:**

-the knowing look was when monsters fall down

-I mean, if Sans can attack, he's bound to be able to heal.

-since when you play Hollow Knight, you come back a but dazed, but fully formed, I thought I would go off of that.

-intead of using her needle to 'Spiderman', Hornet felt guilty, not being able to save Ghost, not worthy enough, if you will to use the needle, that is why she walks. (in the beginning)

-NO HornetxGhost. First of all, thats incest. Second of all I'm writing a wholesone story, I'm not down for that life. Thirdly, sibling relationship. All the wholesome things.

-and I do apologize if I do pronoun shifts randomly, surprisingly I kinda sturggle with that. I know The Hollow Knight and Ghost, as vessels are genderless, but for the sake if story-telling, I will probaly end up making The Hollow Knight a 'he' Frisk a 'she' and probably Ghost a 'she' Or I could just forget and mess up the pronouns anyways. Its fine, I'll figure it out.

-if you hadn't guessed, the fuzzy something is Toriel

-Oh! and the reason Hornet encounters no one to fight in the castle us because she is neither human nor monster. She has a soul, but it is not recognized as a soul to iniaitate a fight. Ghost even more so.

-when Ghost was pogoing, its a different kingdom. Soul manipulation as recognized in Hallownest was different than in The Underground, so they don't take damage, Hornet being from Hallownest, will take damage, hence why she is being avoided.


	2. Chapter 2

Living arrangements. Frisk and Ghost had bonded, Ghost had somehow taught Frisk how to nail-pogo. So when the two were left alone, you heard the unmistakeable sounds of something being wacked.

That and the two were going to be living together. Hornet would watch over Ghost, while Sans would watch Frisk. Asgore and Toriel had to deal with ambassador things. Undyne was going to find a way to protect her new home. Alphys caught up all of the technological advancements. Papurus was well, Papyrus.

Everyone had thought the worst was over. They were very wrong. They were going to find out how PTA moms were. That, and the public school system.

~

First day of school. Frisk and Ghost had been put into the same classes. Even if both of them had been through life changing experiences, they still needed to learn. Toriel's words.

By now, it wasn't uncommon to see a monster around, so it wasn't a shock when Ghost and Frisk walked into the class.

The teacher, Ms. Ross, asked them to introduce themselves.

A small voice. "I'm Frisk." And with that, Frisk sat down.

"And what's your name?" Ms. Ross asked.

Ghost stared at the woman. Unblinking.

A bit spooked, Ms. Ross introduced Ghost herself. "Class this is Ghost."

With that, Ghost sat next to Frisk.

And class started.

"Class, I'm going to write problems on the board, and I would like for you to spell the first three and answer the fourth one."

**88**

**54**

**102**

**What does puzzle mean?**

Ghost had no idea what any of the first three were. But, she knew what puzzle meant. The White Palace was a puzzle of jumping skills anyways.

_A puzzle is..._

Frisk knew what puzzles were. Papyrus had put her through some.

_Puzzles are__..._

_Something to solve. A problem to be fixed._

Frisk and Ghost happened to be the first ones done.

"Frisk, well done, you got the math and the vocab question right! Ghost, you didn't answer the math questions."

That line was obviously not comprehended, but Ghost had no voice to make this known. So Ghost did what she did best, and stared.

"Ms. Ross, I'll help Ghost, Ghost didn't get much education growing up." Frisk says, smiling at her new sibling in all but blood.

"Ms. Ross smiled and nodded.

The rest of the day passed in a similar way, Ghost not knowing some of the questions and Frisk saying she'll help.

But it just so happened that the first day of school, was the first PTA meeting.

~

Hornet and Sans had shown up to the meeting. Being guardians and all. But, the room fell silent when they walked in, but the sound came right back-the kids were coming. One by one, the kids found their parent. Frisk ran in and hugged Sans, then hugging Hornet. Ghost walked in, and proceeded to sit on the ground at Hornet's feet. All the other parents looked shocked.

Then the meeting began. The president, a lady whose name Hornet nor Sans had bothered to find out, began speaking.

"Welcome to the first PTA meeting of the year! This year, we have two new members! Sans and Hornet. With their charges of Frisk and Ghost. This year, we are going to welcome everyone with with open arms. You may get food now."

A good majority got up and went to the snack table. Frisk and Ghost included as well. Hornet and Sans followed, to keep the two on track.

But Sans got dragged into a conversation.

"Are you sure that Frisk should be hanging around Ghost? Are you sure that any of us should be around Ghost? I heard that Ghost killed their own kind." It seems that the mom had gotten into the records.

Sans and Hornet looked mad, but nothing compared to the pure rage on Frisk's face when she turned around. It was so angry, Hornet and Sans both actually took a step _back_.

Then the screaming began.

"How dare you insult Ghost! You don't know what people will do for survival! Ghost is nothing but nice!! Its rude to insult someone when they can't reply back! Open arms? More like closed minds! You- you are mean!!" Frisk's voice was small, but the point was made.

Frisk had heard many words during her time in The Underground, the shouting proved that. But somehow, Sans had gotten his phone out, and recorded the whole thing.

Throughout all of this, Ghost watched. Never before had someone stood up for them with words. Sure Hornet had saved them, but words? Never before had words been used.

If Ghost could think, confusion would be a very prominent thought.

With Frisk's vocabulary used up, Frisk turned and dragged Ghost back to where they were first going. The food table.

"Well, that sure was a change in attitude." Sans said.

Hornet turns to look at him.

"Hey, I'm just as surprised as you are. No sanstastic puns right now."

Hornet just looked back around the room.

**An:**

-the class was a second grade class, Frisk is said to be 9-10, and I now realize that its supposed to be a 4-5 grader class, but for the sake of this, Frisk is now 7. A second grader.

-PTA Sans and Hornet, lets go!

-I've been watching a lot of entitled parents stories lately...

-the records of Ghost's past, necessary for school, and for Hallownest's survival, such as fighting Broken Vessel/ Lost Kin

-I also apologize if I change narrations, like from third person to first person.


	3. Chapter 3

**(Sans)**After Frisk's outburst, the meeting went on as normal. Plus the occasional whipser of what was obviously gossip. Sans had heard many things in his day, gossip was just another brick in the wall.

But if he heard anyone talking about Frisk, _or_ Ghost, then they were going to have a **Bad Time.**

And the meeting was over. Everyone left, full and wary. Wary of the monster raised children.

In the Underground, and Hallownest, everyone was used to walking almost everywhere. So the walk home was no problem. Hornet and I walked regularly, while Frisk and Ghost pogoed all the way home. It was a welcome sight.

Until it turned into Leap. Pogoing off of each other.

Wack. Wack. Wack. Surprisingly, no passerby told us that 'human and monster children shouldn't be allowed to interact.'

Wack. Wack.

And home. Frisk told us it took 30 bounces to get home. Great. 30 wacks. Everyday.

"Sans-freaking-tastic."

Hornet only glanced at me as she opened the door.

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

I check my phone.

"Oh, 1.3 million hits. Nice considering no one was actually hit."

Seeing the confusion, "It was the video I took of the meeting earlier."

Nods all around. Plus one abyssal stare.

Snacks were made. As were memes.

I showed Ghost one of a white moth, saying "_Imagine being so angry that you made your followers get sick."_

Ghost had no voice to laugh, but I imagined it would be cute. Too adorable to even hear.

Ghost sat up strighter, no sparkle in their eyes, but somehow I knew they were interested.

"Sorry kiddo, that's all the memes I have for now."

I could feel the waves of disapointment. Well I'm pretty sure it was disapointment. I was hungry.

Ketchup time. I ate that while Frisk taught Ghost the 'ABCs.' Whatever that was.

"This letter, this is G. Guh sound. This one is H, like in the case of your name, it is silent. This one us O. Oh sound. This is S. Sss sound. This is T. Tuh sound. Now you can put your name on your paper! And you can spell your name!

Ghosts handwriting wasn't really writing, it was like the letters had thrown up, and conveiniently spelled Ghosts name. But, it was something Ghost could claim as their own.

Having no voice, mind, or will, to make them an individual. Susceptible to the Plague.

It was a start.

**(Hornet****)**

Maybe there was no such thing as a perfect vessel. They all have their own mannerisms, for Ghost its handwriting, little movements. For The Hollow Knight, it was the need to impress his father. The need to be pure that made him impure.

Ghost can grow, as much as a vessel can, Ghost can grow up in a world that doesn't strive for perfection. Ghost can just live, without the threat of death looming all around them.

**An:**

-I used Leap as the inhuman version of leapfrog.

-Hornets pov is kind of a continuation of Sans thoughts, but their both thinking the same thing if that makes sense.


	4. Chapter 4

**(Ghost)**

Humans, Ghost had found, were very murdery. As a whole race, they were very stabby. But, the Pale King had discarded thousands upon thousands of vessels, so maybe the difference wasn't that drastic.

Above ground, had regular sized moths, Ghost did not like moths. They were to be avoided at costs.

Everyone around Ghost recognized the signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, so moths were to be steered clear of.

White butterflies were fine, butterflies in general were great Ghost figured out.

If Ghost sat still enough, many butterflies would just come and sit all over Ghost. In top of Ghost's horns, in the crook of the horns, on Ghost's head. And even on the edges of Ghost's eyesockets.

The butterflies sensed the balance of void and soul. The butterflies didn't care that Ghost was something _other_. The butterflies didn't care for the turmoil going on within Ghost- the need to consume soul and the need to ley the void out. They only cared that Ghost was a good perch.

**(Hornet)**

It wasn't uncommon to look out the window and see Ghost just sitting in the yard. Meditating. Usually covered in butterflies. It was nice, just peaceful enough to calm even a vessel. A vessel that lashed out when surround, who was smart enough to defeat the Radiance-a supposey fogotten Higher Being.

Hornet had found that butterflies were good for the smaller vessel. Most of the time, Frisk would come out and sit nearby, telling Ghost stories of her adventures in the Underground, the only audience being the tons of butterflies, and Ghost themself.

When two butterflies sat on the edges of Ghost's eyesockets. every so often. the wings would flap at the same time and make it look like Ghost had blinked. Sans had also gotten aa video of it. titling it 'Cute Kid Uses The Help Of Butterflies To Blink.' This also went viral.

Ghost no longer had to live in fear, or even just live without being cracked. I no longer had to protect anything by myself. It was only my first day above ground, and my life was already so much better. We where cracking, now we are no longer cracked. We live whole.

**The End**

**An:**

-I know this is shorter than my other stories, but I just wanted this wholeome story out as soon as possible, with it still being a coherent story. Thank you guys as always for reading. If you have any questions PM me, cause I know not all of my thoughts can become coherent digitally. And until next time, byyeee

-as a thank you, here are some of the lines I worte that didn't necessarily make it into the final cut.

**If Ghost could blink, they would blink condescendingly.**

**-If Ghost could could blink, you could see the confusion going on**

**-that line obviously wasnt comprehended, or understood, but Ghost had no voice to make this known**

**-Ghost didn't know who this Asgore bug was, but if he was like the Radiance, then he was trash.**

**-no doubt about it, bugs and monsters alike are all idiots**

**-if Ghost sees any moth, either the moth is fought, or Ghost runs away, depending on how bug moth was, and how white...**

**-if pure vessels could be traumatized, then Ghost took the cake. Moths were not to be named. Or spoke about**

**-Hornet ended up sparring with Undyne, people will talk about it for centuries to come**

**-Sans made memes about Hallownest and showed them to Hornet and Ghost, both took to memes immediately. They both like the ones where the Radiance is being dissed**

**-Frisk and Ghost both just sit on Papyrus' couch and watch- they are monster/bug watchers (like people watching)**

**-"Frisk is an actual child, you shouldn't let them(might use her, depends on how I feel) hang around those Bug types, especially the small silent one, I've heard rumors that they murdered their own kind" cue Hornet and Sans ganging up on "PTA mom" because you DONT do that. Either that or mom is beaten up by Ghost and Frisk, it is a sight to behold, the video gets 1.3 million views on youtube "Mom insults kids, kids retaliate by tag-teaming and beating up mom" Frisk definitely helps beat up mom person. Several memes get made, it is a glorious time to be alive**

**-if Ghost had a voice they would probably scream, considering the trauma.**

**-thankfully Hornet could talk and beat those trash peoples egos into the ground, deeper than the Birthplace**

**-if Ghost could laugh, it would be over for all y'all. Too adorable for you to handle**


End file.
